Friday, 30 September 2005

Urban Hikers in Paris

Today we finally decided to pull out cards # 41 & 42 (Montmartre 1 & Montmartre 2) from our box of “City Walks:Paris” by Christina Henry de Tessan.We wanted to visit Montmartre anyway to see the Dali Museum, so we thought it was a good opportunity see what we thought of these self-guided walks.

After emerging from the metro at the “Blanche” metro stop, we ran into the Moulin de la Galette, which is a “windmill-turned-dancing club that inspired Renoir’s Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette”.

Across avenue Junot, we saw “a sculpture of a man coming through a wall, named after Marcel Ayme’s short story Le Passe Muraille (the Walker Through Walls).”

On rue des Saules we saw the last remaining vineyard in Paris.“The locals harvest the grapes every year and sell the small yield for more than it’s worth, but all proceeds go to charity.”

“Local artists (among them Picasso and Renoir) once gathered at The Lapin Agile, an old cabaret, just below the vineyard on the corner.”

Along our walk, we ran into something we hadn’t seen before – a funicular to take you up the hill to Sacré Cœur.

Heading down rue des Abbesses, at 56 rue des Trois Fréres, we passed Au Marché de la Butte, which was featured in the film Amélie.

It seemed like card #41 (Montmartre 1) was pretty clear and easy to follow, while card #42 (Montmartre 2) was a bit more confusing.However, all in all, we enjoyed these two (out of 50) “Adventures on Foot”, and we look forward to more walking adventures during our winter trip to Paris.